Even if Britain were to leave the European Union, it would want to cooperate with the EU on select issues (of its choice, of course). But if things do change on the continent and move towards more integrated international policies, it would be harder for Britain to influence and shape such polices, writes Rosa Balfour of the European Policy Centre.

The 2013 Review of the European External Action Service must lead to making the different EU actors – the EEAS, member states’ national diplomacies and the Commission – all dance to the same tune, argue Rosa Balfour and Kristi Raik in this Commentary.

Does the EU have the institutional and political structures to pursue its foreign policy priorities and strategies? With the 2013 Review of the European External Action Service due, this is a pertinent question.

An EU without the UK would be able to move steadily forward towards becoming a functioning and increasingly federal-looking entity. A 'Brexit' would also force Britons to engage in a long-delayed period of historical self-examination that would most likely culminate in its reapplying to join the new-look EU, argues Jolyon Howorth, Jean Monnet Professor of European Politics at the University of Bath.

This Commentary by Andrea Frontini argues that the time has come for EU leaders either to get more serious about defence integration in Europe or simply live with its ineluctable, and quite dangerous, military decline.

In this policy area, migrants' human rights are being violated in some EU member states, with appropriate measures to put an end to such violations not always being taken. In this Policy Brief, Yves Pascouau outlines the current problems and proposes solutions to remedy the situation.

The enlargement of the European Union10 December 2012Rosa Balfour (Senior Adviser to EPC on Europe in the World) and Corina Stratulat (Head of European Politics and Institutions programme and Senior Policy Analyst)

In this Discussion Paper, Rosa Balfour and Corina Stratulat focus on some of the lessons learnt and not learnt in the context of EU enlargement.

Associate membership could offer Britain an alternative relationship with the European Union as the euro crisis forges a more federal Europe, writes UK Liberal Democrat MEP Andrew Duff, president of the Union of European Federalists (UEF).